A bill banning texting while driving is ready for a House floor vote after clearing its last committee today.

The House Economic Affairs Committee backed the bill (HB 13) in a 16-1 vote, with only chairman Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City, voting against the bill. Patronis said he was afraid the legislation could been seen as providing “another reason why we have more government intruding into our lives.”

However, the vote was a major victory for Rep. Doug Holder, R-Venice, who has been waging a campaign for the legislation for the last five years.

Answering an array of questions from the House panel, Holder said the legislation is aimed at a cultural shift in thinking by making it clear to younger drivers that texting while driving is illegal. He also said he hoped that the ban would become irrelevant in the next decade as technology improvements would increase driver safety.

Holder also noted that Florida remains only one of five states without any type of driving and texting prohibition. He also said studies have shown texting while driving can be more of an impairment of driving than drinking in some cases.

“Today the statistics are big enough, the message is important enough for us to pass a bill like this into law and save lives in Florida,” Holder said.

While the House bill next moves to the floor, a Senate bill (HB 52), sponsored by Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, is waiting for a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, its last committee stop before a floor vote.